


The Watch

by adreamer212



Category: Pretty Little Liars, Spemily - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 01:30:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10629354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adreamer212/pseuds/adreamer212
Summary: Have you ever wished you could turn back time? Has the wish ever come true?





	1. Chapter 1

It's raining again. Every time there is bad news, it rains. Dark clouds shroud the sky, hiding the extreme light of the lightning. Its thunder escapes time to time, scaring the sparse street. Ironically, there're still people bump into her. As if she doesn't suffer enough.

The rain. The thunder.

The death of a friend.

Her chest is heavy, her jaws clench tighter. The view before her eyes is ruined with a tear mask. There's no point to hold it in but she tries. It's a habit of a lawyer, never show your emotion.

Emily found it funny.

_But it would be killer if you show them "the look"._

_I don't have "the look"._

_You just gave me one._

It starts to hurt, physically. Or she's just noticed it now. Her throat, her heart. She swallows hard, hoping nothing. There's no hope.

Not anymore.

"Are you okay?" A colleague asks, worries when she stomped out of the restaurant, dropped her phone on the floor.

_That's the worst question in my opinion._

_How so?_

_Because most of the "I'm fine" is a lie and "No, I'm not" is barely said._

_Okay… what should I do?_

_Just… be here._

"Spencer? Are you still there?" Melissa's voice blurs in the rain.

Gives her colleague a simple nod telling her to go back in, she takes the phone. All words are trapped. A slight "huh?" is painfully forced out to ease Melissa's question.

"I'm so sorry, Spence. I know you…"

"How? – How did she…?"

A long silence covers their conversation. The wind rises strongly, she's no longer safe under this eave.

"Her friend was sick so she took his mission. She led the team…"

"…"

"There was a bomb."

* * *

How many hours have passed, she doesn't know. It has stopped and then started to rain again for so many times that rainwater begins to drip from her coat. People give her some glances. Some spell "pathetic". Some give sympathy. Some are just curious. Funny how the world just turns into three groups of people. None of them is hers.

None of them was Emily's.

She stopped wandering. Not because she is at where she's supposed to be but because she's tired. Her legs led her from street to street, her mind didn't follow. She sits on a porch of the darkest house in this neighbor. It looks like Emily's.

Spencer breaths in slowly, a familiar scent finds her nose. _Lily_. She glances over, reaches for the beautiful flower which is swinging against the wind and each drop of the rain.

_New knowledge: Lily means I dare you to love me._

_That's all you got after watching Imagine me and you?_

_Well I'm fascinated by interesting facts._

_No, you're just a nerd._

_…_

_…_

_Do you like lily?_

_…_ _Yes._

The wind rises stronger, sends a shiver through her skin. The lily quickly slips out of her fingers, being played with the rain again. She hugs herself, leans her head on the stairs fence. Her entire body curls up. The coat doesn't keep her warm anymore, quite the opposite.

Tears pooling in her eyes again and she let them go. They stream down freely, blend with the rainwater. That tension in her throat finally releases. She sobs, and wails. Silently.

_Do you need anything? Tissues, cookies or a shoulder?_

_A shoulder, please!_

_I thought you would choose cookies. What am I gonna do with a basket of them?_

_No blood, no cookie._

_Shut up!_

_Hey, I'm the crier here._

_…_

_What am I gonna do without you?_

_Don't know, better perhaps._

_Shut up!_

_Hey, I'm the helper here._

* * *

It's freezing out here. Cars have stopped passing, there are hardly people on the street. They have all gotten inside, settled with hot chocolate and fluffy blankets. The rain has gone, taking all the dark clouds away. The sky is clear like it's been washed.

She's been sitting there for hours, never bothered to move or change her position. Her heavy eyelids lift up, give her the vision of a full moon. It's so bright and big tonight. She's never seen this before. Her foggy breath blurs the view, reminds her of how cold she is. In a brief moment, she thinks of following Emily. It won't be too hard. At 91 degrees F, she could have amnesia, at 82 she will lose consciousness and at 70 she can meet her. The fact appears in her head as if she just learned that this morning.

She knows she shouldn't think like that.

Emily would wait for her.

She knows there are people who want her to be happy.

Emily would hold her hand when she got to heaven.

She knows that's stupid.

Emily would know she loved her. Too.

_I'm sorry. We… can't. I…_

_Oh… I'm – sorry. I just – I misunderstood. I thought we –_

_…_

_I'm sorry. I should go._

_Em…_

Not a conversation should happen after a kiss, a passionate one. But it went like that. The door clicked and she was this close to chase after her. _Maybe a better time_. The time when her position was firm and she had everyone's respect so she wouldn't have to deal with what this _unusual_ _relationship_ , according to her boss, could bring.

But life does not wait. For she was so busy climbing as fast as she could to the top, someone got left behind.

_You seem busy lately._

_Yeah, work. Y'know._

_I didn't mean to bother you. I called cause I thought you should know._

_Know what?_

_I'm joining the army._

_…_

_They're going to Afghanistan next month so I'll be there too._

_…_

_Spence?_

_Why?_

_…_

_You can't just go and leave everything behind like that._

_What "everything", Spencer? Everyone's gone. Mom, dad, there's nothing here for me to stay._

Spencer could have kept her, she had the perfect reason for it but damn she was almost there. Everything must be perfect before she told her. That was still not the _right_ time.

That "right time" came a year later.

It arrived this morning, when she took her new office and went out to celebrate with some colleagues.

Before Melissa called.

The wind rises again, making the leaves sound like they're talking to each other. She looks up, squinting, the moon is too bright for her liking. While she struggles to cover her eyes, the clocks of every house on the street ring twelve times.

It's midnight.

She doesn't know what she should do with that. She sits there, waiting for the answer to her unknown question to drop from the sky. The moon has dimmed down its light, she put her hand down, wonders if she has been hallucinating about the brightness. She rests her head back on the fence, forms no actual thought. Her eyelids get heavier after each blink and with the foggy breath keeps blocking her view, tiredly, she slowly falls asleep.

* * *

**AN: Tell me what you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

“Young lady. Hey, wake up!”

She frowns, rubbing her eyes to wake herself up. The voice of a woman keeps calling gently, not too loud, just enough for her to hear. The place is still dark, it’s like no hour has passed. She eyes the woman whose face looks really familiar but she can’t tell who that is. She swears she has seen her before. In that exactly clothes too. And that’s strange because the woman dresses like she’s in the 40’. The dark blue V – neck dress with matching gloves and black shoes make her look out of this place. Her hair is curled and pinned up below her shoulder, completes her elegant beauty.

“Can I – help you?” She asks hesitantly.    

“No, but I can help you.” The woman says, quickly sits down next to her.

“What the –”

“Listen kid! I’ve done this so many times and I’m so tired. I swear if you punch me again I’m gonna let you live alone for the rest of your life. Okay now let…”

“What the hell are you talking about? Look! I’m exhausted. This is the worst day of my life so please leave. I have nothing to offer.”

“I know. You’re sad and heartbroken. That’s why I’m here.”  

Spencer’s jaw slightly drops, she blinks briefly, frowning but catches herself considers listening to the woman.

“Who are you?” She hears words flew from her lips.

“You’re not gonna believe me and I don’t have much time so let just get to the point. I have something for you.”

The woman signs for her to open her hand then gently places a steampunk pocket watch in it.

The watch is a half hunter one with the cover made out of glass and the Roman number engraved sharply around it, gives the holder a full sight of the time without opening. They also craved a pair of wings grabbed the whole cover. A chain was attached to the bow and comes with it is a little “S” with the same material. Overall, the watch just looks like others she’s seen before. The only differences she could tell are this one has three crowns instead of one and when she opens the cover, it has a spot for date. And that is it, nothing else.

She closes the watch with one hand, looks up then glares at the woman. Her voice raises quietly.

“Other days I would not do this but I assume you must be really broke to selling this at this late so… how much? I’ll buy it and you can leave me alone.”

The woman tilts her head, unamused. “Kid, I truly want to slap you in the face.”

“That’s not what you’re doing?” she asks, too exhausted to fire any comeback.

“Okay.” The stranger looks down the watch on her wrist. “I have exactly one minute and twenty two seconds left so please pay attention and don’t interrupt. I’m still working to make it longer.”

Spencer opens her mouth, is about to ask again but then closes it. Nothing makes sense anymore but what the hell, at least she forgets _it_ for a while.

“I know you love her.” Well, not helping. But Spencer is far from annoyed, she is stunned, jaw drops again. “And this watch will help you bring her back.”

The word “how” forms in Spencer’s head with a big question mark and it’s like she reads mind, the woman continues.

“You see the crowns? They represent how many times you can go through the Time Clouds. So you have three times, three tries. If you run out of times, you’re done, she’s gone. There’s no way to get more time. Not until I figure it out. Three is not a big number, trust me. Because if you break the rules, everything will be reset and you have to go back again.”

The woman pauses so Spencer can take in the information then answers her mind again.

“We have two rules: don’t touch anyone and don’t let anyone but you know. No one except your past self can know about your travel. It’s a secret. Do you understand? Only you, the past you and me know about this. One last thing, you only have one minute after your voice raises to fix the past. That’s the limit of the pocket watch method but I haven’t come up with a better one so you have to settle with it.”

Spencer blinks and blinks again. The Hastings brain is flooded with completely new _and_ strange knowledge. Holds the watch tightly in her hands, she frowns then stuttered.

“Wh – wha. Can you – can you repeat that?”

The woman looks at her wrist and speaks in a rush. “Oh no, I’m running out of time. Spencer, remember, three times, two rules and one minute. Three two one, do your best, okay? Don’t touch –”

…

…

Spencer’s head slips from the fence, wakes her up from the doze. She looks around, the dark night makes her lost track of time. She yawns, for brief a moment, has no idea who she is or what is going on. Whilst she reaches for her inside pocket, the feel of a round object in her hand stops her. She takes it out.

And everything hits her.

 “Oh my God.”

* * *

**AN: Tell me what you think?**


	3. Chapter 3

Spencer stares at the watch in her hands, swallows hard and tries to ease her palpitated heart. She inhales then exhales deeply before turning the cover open. The clock stops at exactly twelve, all hands don't seem to tick.

She closes her eyes and breathes in, hands shake a little.

"Okay, what did she say?"

_Three two one._

"Three times to try. Two rules and one minute."

_It's a secret._

"Don't let anyone know."

_Don't touch._

"Don't touch what?" She squeezes her brain, the missing word doesn't show up. "God Damn It!"

She's frustrated, of course, because she doesn't even sure if this works or not. But that's why she has to try. Spencer temporarily puts aside that one rule, eagerly place her thumb on the first crown. Until then it smashes her.

She has to choose a date first. _Which one?_

"Fuck!"

The one where they kissed? No, Emily was there. That would break the rule.

The one where she stayed overnight to comfort her? No, Emily was there, too.

The one where she almost confessed after watching Imagi – No! Damn it Emily was also there.

Emily was everywhere, in her life and her memorable moments. Her mind is full of their time together. Even in the furthest corner of her memory stocks the endless video of an Emily smiling with her in class whenever they caught eyes. She remembers how beautiful her secret feelings were. She wanted her but in a simple way. Like she was the only one to help her with homework. Like she was the only one who had movie nights just the two of them. Like she was the only one who loved her _that_ way. But there came Alison and Maya.

Their feelings weren't like hers. They were clear and fierce. They were all over Emily.

Then they left, throwing Emily back to her arms.

And that moment even her feelings weren't like hers. She no longer wanted the simple way. But it was a little too late for that. Cause she wasn't special anymore. There were people who were braver than her loved Emily _that_ way.

She ruined the past for being a coward and when she had the chance she ruined it again for the same reason. She sighs, leans her back against the fence then looks up at the moon.

"I shouldn't have let you go."

The wind flows slightly, letting the leaves whisper their secret. That calming sound relaxes Spencer, the wrinkles on her forehead and her frown slowly disappear. Then her eyes suddenly widen. She blinks several times, the invisible light pub on her head brightens up.

"Yes! Oh my God yes! I just need to stop her."

She sits straight up, bites her lips then set the time. It's a year ago, the night Emily called to tell her she was joining the army. She has that date marked on her phone so she can countdown to when Emily came back to town.

She closes her eyes, thumb hovers over the first crown. "Please work."

Takes a deep breath, she hits it.

…

She's warming up. The leaves have stopped whispering. Through her boots, she feel the softness of the familiar carpet instead of a wooden stair at the porch. Carefully, she opens her eyes and never in her whole life Spencer gets so happy and overwhelm to see her living room.

"It works." She murmured, then yells. "It actually works. Oh my God!"

"Who are you? How did you - ?" Spencer turns around to face the past Spencer which shuts the other right up.

That reminds her, she has work to do and she only has one minute after she starts talking.

"Don't freak out." She says. "I'm Spencer one year later from now and I'm here to stop you from making mistake."

"Oh no, oh no. The pills are kicking in again." The innocent Spencer reacts, seemingly looking for a place to lie down.

"Wait, wait, wait. It's real, you're not hallucinating. I don't have much time so please listen. You have to –"

The phone on the deck rings, interrupted Spencer's speech.

"Wait! Don't pick up!"

Spencer's past self brushes her request off, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Oh hello Emily, can you call me later? I'm on some pills and currently seeing a future me in my living room. I don't think I can talk –"

"No! Don't tell her you idio – "

Everything turns black in front of Spencer's eyes and before she knows it, she's sitting at the stranger's porch again. The "t" never made it for its idiot to hear.

Spencer stands up, furiously kicks the fence. "DAMN IT!"

That woman wasn't kidding about these rules. Now she has to do everything over again. She's glad she has three tries though. The first one didn't go well which teaches her she needs to change how she'll talk.

Breathes through her mouth, she reaches for the next crown. "C'mon, Spencer."

…

The warmth from the fireplace, the carpet, she's in her living room again. Quietly, she turns around to see the back of the other Spencer. She's typing and taking note, flips a few pages of the heavy book nearby time to time. Spencer smiles, it's a good start.

She walks over gently then stops in front of the past self, waits for her to look up. But she doesn't, she's diving deep in her our world.

"Hi." Her voice raises.

The younger Spencer startles, looks up immediately. "Oh sh –"

"No, it's not the pills. You're okay. Actually, you're getting better." The past self shows no sign of protesting so Spencer's pleased, continues. "I'm you one year later who comes back to help us. And yes, that means I come from the future. Before you freak out or anything, I can prove it."

The past Spencer raises her brow. "Oh really?"

Spencer smiles again, this one's going really well. The idiot's really cooperating so far.

"Emily will call in less than thirty seconds and I want you to not picking it up. You can call her back after you hear what I'm about to say. Just don't pick up, okay? I'm running out of time so I'll get to the point. She'll tell you she's joining the army and –"

The phone rings just like she said, stopping their conversation. They both glance at the phone and while Spencer turns back to face her past self, that idiot's eyes never bother to flick back.

Her hand reaches for the phone, finger's about to hit the green button. She's acting like Spencer's invisible again.

"Don't!"

Emily cannot know. It'll reset everything. Spencer runs over, grabs the idiot's hand and snatches the phone out of it.

The room turns all black, she suddenly feels cold again.

She's back at the porch.

She looks around, clueless. "Wh – wha – what happened?" Tears building up in her eyes, she shouts to thin air. "Why? Why I –? I didn't let Emily know." She wipes her eyes with her sleeve. "I already took the phone from –"

"Oh…"

Now she remembers the second rule. Don't touch anyone.

Spencer's now exhausted. She sits flat on the stair, head rests loudly on the fence. She only has one chance left. The possibility she would ruin this like the last two scares her. It's not her saving her love life, she's saving Emily. She messes up and Emily will be gone for good. She's blamed herself for what happened to Emily but at least that wasn't directly her fault. This time though, this would be hers.

Spencer looks down, the watch in her hand stares back at her with only one clickable crown left. Her heart sinks and she sighs as the wind rises gently. The flower cannot steady its position, swings and touches Spencer's palm time to time. Spencer's eyes glance over for a long moment before she raises her hand and picks the lily out of the soil.

"Sorry." She murmured. "And thank you."

With the flower in her hand, closes her eyes, she hits the final crown.

…

Getting too familiar with this, Spencer walks right away to stand in front of her past self. Her footsteps immediately draws the innocent one's attention. They eye each other for a while then Spencer steps forward, places the lily she's picked up on her desk.

"No one has the right to judge your happiness."

"…"

"They are not worth your time. But she is."

"…"

"I know you know what I'm talking about. Whether this is your pills or not, you know you want to. So give this to her. Before it's too late."

The younger Spencer looks at the flower, contemplates then looks up at her. The room falls back into silence. The sound of wood being burned in the fireplace is even louder than their thoughts. They're not speechless. It's just that suddenly there's not much to say when thousands words could be heard without being said.

The ringtone interrupts their conversation one last time. Spencer gives her younger self a slight nod when she glances at the phone and flicks her eyes back to her.

"Hello, Emily."

…

She doesn't know what happens after that. The last thing she saw was the past Spencer with eyes never left her when she picked up the phone. She's now back at the porch again.

Did it work?

She did everything she could.

Did it not work?

She's still here.

Everything seems like the last time she left, nothing changes. The watch in her hand is now useless. All three crowns were clicked, it's nothing but a souvenir. Spencer curls up, hugs her knees. She knew it, she shouldn't have let her hope up. The burden of the day is back on her shoulders. Emily's gone. And this time, it's because of her. She opens the watches, hits the crowns helplessly in hope somehow, with some miracles, there could be one chance left. But it doesn't work. The watch just emotionlessly shows it's three in morning. All hands work like a normal watch. Spencer bites her lips, prevents her sobs from disturbing the still of the night. The winds keeps flowing slowly through her hair, soothing her miserable heart.

It's really hard to take in the fact that she ruined this second chances when she was given three tries of it. Ignores the third time her phone rings, Spencer keeps finding a way for the watch to work. She stands up, takes a few steps around to seek for that woman. She goes round and round, with her fifth lap in the neighbors, her legs start to protest. She sits back on the porch, wipes her face with her now dry sleeve. Her annoying phone rings for the tenth time and she decides to take it. Melissa or her mom must be really worried if she doesn't pick it up.

Raises her phone to her ear, the silent night instantly being smashed.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I'VE CALLED?"

"Um…"

"You can celebrate for how long you want but at least pick the phone up when I call. I thought we've agreed about this?"

"I – I…"

"Wherever you are Spencer Hastings, get your ass back home immediately or I'll get there and bring your ass home by myself!"

"…"

"Hello?"

"…"

"Spencer? I'm sorry. Are you feeling okay? You drunk? Where are you, I'll get there."

"…"

"Please answer me! Please! Okay, I won't yell again. I'm sorry. I –"

"…"

"…"

"Em?"

* * *

**AN: Tell me what you think?**


	4. Chapter 4

Spencer narrows her eyes while staring at the scene in front of her. She wants her girlfriend to get along with her family but she didn't plan for them to be this close. Melissa gets all touchy feely in an activity that shouldn't have these kind of touches. What's so hard with turning a page of the album then takes her hand back to her side? Emily's thigh is not a place to rest hand. At least not Melissa's place. And the giggles. What's so funny? It's just Spencer with mud all over her face when she was five. Aren't people using mud as facemask?

Veronica smiles knowingly, sips her tea then watch Spencer irritably tries to sit between Melissa and Emily but fails.

"You can sit on Emily's left. She needs to stay in the middle for the best view." The sister says nonchalantly, earns a double glare from the younger one.

Spencer sits down, competes to turn pages with Melissa. The album flips back and front so fast that Emily cannot even see a photo. The war needs to end.

"You know what?" She says. "I can turn the page by myself."

Emily places her hands on it, removes both "players" from the game. Her fingers land on a black and white picture which portraits a tall woman in her twenties. She looked truly elegant in her V – neck dress, added a little fancy with matching gloves. Her curled hair was a trend in somewhere around 1940s. And that makes Emily smile because it runs in the family.

"You look just like her. You even got the triumphant on your face from her."

Spencer tilts her head to have a better look at the photo. In an instant, her pale skin looks even paler as if she's seen a ghost. Veronica walks over, adds the side story of that woman.

"Oh that's Spencer's great grandmother's youngest sister. This is the last photo they took of her. After that she went to her treehouse in the wood and nobody had seen her ever since. They said she was kidnaped or killed by wild animals but Spencer's great grandmother believed her rebellious sister just succeeded with her dream of travel through time so she never came back."

"Wow, your family is so interesting, Spencer."

Spencer gulps, almost stutters. "Well – yeah, yeah, so interesting."

After their dinner, Spencer gets to her side of the bed. She looks around then quietly takes out a wooden box in her nightstand. She has kept the watch in this since that night six months ago. Though it has lost the ability to go back, it's still her treasure. Spencer doesn't need to go back anymore, everything is perfect at the moment. The story Veronica told earlier gives her the urge to look at it again. Perhaps the tale was true. It feels like it to Spencer.

She unlocks the box then opens it and a piece of paper falls out. Half of her mind has already know what it is before she picks it up and reads it.

"Well done, kid! Have a good life.

P/S: Your girlfriend is hot."

Spencer chuckles, folds the paper and puts it back in the box. The bedsheet shifts then she feels a pair of arms wrap around her neck, Emily's face appears next to hers.

"What'ya got here?"

Spencer turns her head, smirks. "My second treasure."

Emily pauses, does the math in her head briefly then asks. "Second? What's your first?"

And just waits for that, Spencer puts the box down on her nightstand, catches Emily's arm and pulls her into a kiss, smiling half way through.

"You."

* * *

**AN: Thank you for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: So this is kind of unusual.**

**This is a dialog I wrote when Spencer picked up the phone. I was a bit carried away between the process so this happened. It didn't make it to the final story but I think it's fun to read.**

**So yeah, I share it here, hope you don't mind. :)**

* * *

Raises her phone to her ear, the silent night instantly being smashed.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I'VE CALLED?"

"Um…"

"You can celebrate for how long you want but at least pick the phone up when I call. I thought we've agreed about this?"

"I – I…"

"Wherever you are Spencer Hastings, get your ass back home immediately or I'll get there and bring your ass home by myself!"

"…"

"Hello?"

"…"

"Spencer? I'm sorry. Are you feeling okay? You drunk? Where are you, I'll get there."

"…"

"Please answer me! Please! Okay, I won't yell again. I'm sorry. I –"

"…"

"…"

"Em?"

"Oh thank God, you're still there. Give me the address, you don't seem like you can get home alone."

"Emily?"

"Yes, is everything alright?"

"EMILY FIELDS? EMILY CATHERIN FIELDS?"

"Um…yes...? Jesus, how much have you drunk?"

"OH MY GOD, EMILY! Where are you right now?"

"Home! Waiting for you! For five hours!"

"Ho – Home? What home?"

"You don't remember our place? Well, you're banned from drinking for a while. Just give me the address."

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Are we… roommates?"

"Jesu –"

"Please answer me!"

"Yes, we're roommates, housemates, bed buddy. Whatever you want to put it."

"Bed buddy? We sleep on the same bed?"

"Yupe. And do other stuffs on the same bed."

"What kind of stuffs?"

"You'll know when you get home."

"Can you – like – pick me up, immediately?"

* * *

**AN: Thank you!**


End file.
